Port Ellen Distillery recently re-opened, having been shuttered since 1983. One of the remarkable new additions to the distillery is a ten part spirit safe, enabling them to divide the new make spirit into ten separate cuts rather than the conventional three (heads, hearts and tails). As a result, you can nose and taste the progression of the smoke profile in the whisky much more accurately – when it appears, how it changes, and how it diminishes. Working with glass artist Wilfried Grootens, we sought to visualise this experience. An assembly of 45 panes of hand painted glass create a burst of smoke, emanating from the spirit which passes through the middle of the sculpture. As you walk around the work, the smoke shifts and changes, until the sculpture becomes completely transparent, revealing that the smoke image has been created by analysing each one of these separate cuts.
World Record: Most expensive bottle of Port Ellen ever sold at Distillers One of One Auction
Lot Estimate: £150,000 - 300,000
Final Price: £375,000